Flow sensors are currently used in many applications including commercial, industrial, manufacturing, residential, medical, transportation, government, and military applications. For example, flow sensors are often used in manufacturing processes to measure and control flow rates of reactants in chemical processes, in internal combustion engines to measure and control a ratio of air and fuel, and in other applications in which detecting a rate of fluid flow is desirable. In another example, flow sensors are often used in medical ventilators or respirators. Medical ventilators provide supplemental oxygen to patients unable to breathe normally on their own accord. Medical ventilators may include a source of pressurized air or oxygen-rich air which is fluidly connected to the patient through a fluid conduit. One type of flow sensor used in medical ventilators is a thermal anemometer type flow sensor. A thermal anemometer mass flow sensor may be formed as a Micro Electro Mechanical System (MEMS), and may include a microbridge that is fairly thermally isolated from the rest of the sensor substrate. A current is typically provided through a conductive heater element that is on the microbridge. An upstream resistive temperature sensor may be located on the microbridge upstream of the conductive heater element, and a downstream resistive temperature sensor may be located on the microbridge downstream of the conductive heater element. The flow rate of a fluid past the flow sensor will tend to cool the first resistive temperature sensor located on the microbridge upstream of the conductive heater element, and will tend to heat the second resistive temperature sensor located on the microbridge downstream of the conductive heater element. The change in temperature of the first and second resistive temperature sensors may be related to the flow rate of the fluid. This is just one example a flow sensor that is commonly used today.